All paths lead to better prepared students

By: Randy Barrette

Spanish & World Culture Teacher

Meniffee County High School

I am more excited about my career than ever before. I realize this has become a cliché for many. However, as I complete my 15th year in the classroom, at the same time as I enter my 50th year on this earth, I believe my chosen profession is full of possibilities. Doctors, dentists, mechanics, and other professionals progress in their careers incorporating modernization into their daily practices, with the end result being more effective and cost-efficient outcomes. Teachers too have this opportunity.

We no longer rely on a textbook to be the center of our instruction, nor on ourselves as sole distributor of knowledge and skill. We have so much information at out fingertips when we look outside of our proverbial personal and school windows. And the relationship between teachers and their students, and that information, is evolving.

The need for this change is paramount. The realities of the future call our profession to prepare students for participation in a redefined work environment. Our students must be able to think at higher levels, beyond regurgitation of facts. They must be able to identify problems, develop plans to investigate those, and propose solutions they can clearly share with others. They must be able to communicate with co-workers and collaborators, even if they sit on the other end of a camera in another country.

Teachers have at their disposal endless training, available 24/7, to assist in understanding this new paradigm and to practice the skills we need to facilitate knowledge and skill for these outcomes. We can take individual paths on our professional development journeys, taking advantage of webinars, colleagues who serve as mentors, blogs and journals, and more, knowing that all paths lead to better-prepared students. We are no longer limited by time and space.

All of this inspires and rejuvenates me as I head into what might be my last five years in the classroom. To be sure, this is not a stagnant or monotonous professional environment. It is full of potential to change, adapt, and evolve with the times. It is a privilege to be able to occupy this place, at this time, in the lives of my students.